Carved Spoon with Five Animal Heads

Every Northwest Coast family had a supply of spoons. Those for common household purposes were of the same shape and materials as feast spoons, though undecorated. Feast spoons such as this example were brought out, in the same way as fine china or best silverware in other cultures, when a family gave a celebratory feast or when visitors arrived from another village. The number of feast spoons was determined by the magnificence of the feast the family could afford. This Haida spoon was delicately carved from a single piece of goat horn and decorated with five animal heads, each with abalone-shell eyes. Before carving, the horn was steamed until pliable, bent into shape, and cooled in a mold.